New DNA testing linked Michael Benjamin, 57, to the assaults of five women between 1995 and 1997 in southeast Queens, according to the authorities. Source: New York Times
Posts published in “DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid)”
Nassau Police Charge Man With Raping and Killing Teenager in 1984
By Gotham Rex on October 15, 2025
Theresa Fusco was left in the woods near the roller rink where she had worked. “I loved her and I miss her,” her father said. “She lives in my heart.” Source: New York Times
Retrial in 1993 Buffalo Murder Case Ends With a Deadlocked Jury
By Gotham Rex on October 6, 2025
Brian Scott Lorenz’s conviction in the strangling of Deborah Meindl in a Buffalo suburb was set aside in 2023. A jury failed to reach a verdict in his retrial. Source: New York Times
Judge in Gilgo Beach Case Spurns Request to Throw Out DNA Evidence
By Gotham Rex on September 23, 2025
Lawyers for Rex Heuermann, who is charged with killing seven women, made last-ditch attempts to toss crucial evidence, but prosecutors are preparing for an expected trial next year. Source: New York Times
32 Years After a Brutal Murder, a Man Is on Trial. Again.
By Gotham Rex on September 19, 2025
A judge vacated the convictions of two men accused of killing Deborah Meindl in her Tonawanda, N.Y., home. On Friday, the district attorney began trying to convict them once more. Source: New York Times
‘What a Horrible Place This Would Have Been’
By Gotham Rex on August 8, 2022
Archaeologists found the remains of 14 soldiers who died in a pivotal Revolutionary War battle — a fresh reminder of the violence of war. Source: New York Times
‘Torso Killer’ Charged in Strangulation of Long Island Woman in 1968
By Gotham Rex on June 22, 2022
DNA evidence linked Richard Cottingham to the killing of Diane Cusick, prompting Nassau County prosecutors to review 13 years of unsolved murders of women. Source: New York Times
9/11 Victims Are Still Being Identified, 20 Years Later
By Gotham Rex on September 7, 2021
The medical examiner’s office is still working painstakingly to identify 9/11 victims. There are 1,106 victims whose remains have not been found. Source: New York Times
Trying to Find Your Mother’s Remains From Ground Zero, 20 Years Later
By Gotham Rex on September 6, 2021
The medical examiner’s office is still working painstakingly to identify 9/11 victims. There are 1,106 victims whose remains have not been found. Source: New York Times
Queens Man Is Charged in 1976 Killing of Pregnant Teenager Evelyn Colon
By Gotham Rex on April 5, 2021
Luis Sierra, 63, of Ozone Park, was arrested this week in the killing of Evelyn Colon, a Jersey City 15-year-old whose dismembered remains were found along a riverbank in Pennsylvania, the authorities said. Source: New York Times
36 Years Later, Police Arrest Suspect in Rape and Killing of a 14-Year-Old
By Gotham Rex on September 11, 2020
Using DNA evidence, the authorities in Rochester, N.Y., said that they had charged Timothy L. Williams of Melbourne, Fla., with murdering Wendy Jerome on Thanksgiving Day in 1984. Source: New York Times